Vykhryst and Paraschiv were the bests in the finals of the 62nd Golden Gloves Tournament

The twelve final contests were held in the 62nd edition of the Golden Gloves Tournament which finished in Pancevo, Serbia. Ukraine’s Viktor Vykhryst won the bout of the finals against Serbia’s Vladan Babic while the main sensation of the whole event was delivered by Moldova’s Alexandru Paraschiv who defeated his tough Cuban rival.

Ukraine sent a strong team to the Golden Gloves Tournament to Pancevo and following Robert Marton’s success at the heavyweight (91kg), they claimed their second gold medal at the super heavyweight (+91kg). The Minsk 2019 European Games winner and EUBC European Champion Viktor Vykhryst eliminated Italy’s former two-time AIBA World Champion veteran Clemente Russo in the semi-finals of the event.

The Ukrainian met for the title of the category with Serbia’s defending champion Vladan Babic who is the host nation’s best male boxer in our present days. The Serbian boxer was highly competitive for the Ukrainian star who had to keep the maximum focus on the ball until the end of the bout. Vykhryst used his longer reach well mostly in the second part of the bout and became the winner of the tough super heavyweight (+91kg).

Surprise of the day

Moldova had national selection event before the start of the Golden Gloves Tournament and their new youngsters impressed in Pancevo. Alexandru Paraschiv put himself into the spotlight in 2014 when he claimed a silver medal at the EUBC European Junior Boxing Championships in Anapa. The 20-year-old Moldovan eliminated Czech Republic’s Pavel Polakovic and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Melenyuk during his road to the finals of the Group B of the lightweight (63kg). Paraschiv exceeded the expectations in the final and won all of the rounds against Cuba’s favourite Yoangel Moya.

The Round-Up

In the first final of the 62nd edition of the Golden Gloves Tournament two North Africans fought for the gold medal. Algeria’s AIBA World Boxing Championships silver medallist Mohamed Flissi was the main favourite of the flyweight (52kg) before the start of the event and he realized his golden dreams in Pancevo. The 29-year-old Algerian controlled his final bout against Morocco’s Said Mortaji in the event which was a preparation for him to the African Olympic Qualification Event.

Serbia had four finalists in the Golden Gloves Tournament on home soil but among them only Veljko Gligoric was able to take the gold medal of the event. He had strong youth results in the past and competed already in the 2015 edition of the Golden Gloves Tournament. Following silver medals in the event, the 23-year-old Gligoric claimed the gold medal in the 62nd edition beating Ukraine’s Oleh Chulyacheyev in the final of the bantamweight (57kg).

Ukraine’s Viktor Petrov won almost all of his international matches as a junior and youth boxer between 2011 and 2014. The two-time EUBC European Junior Champion was quickly involved to their elite team in 2015 but he was not able to di real breakthrough yet. The 23-year-old Ukrainian has moved up to the welterweight (69kg) and had enough experiences to beat Serbia’s Vladimir Gubas in the Group A of the category. Morocco’s Zine Elabidine Amroug walked over to the gold medal of Group B following his opponent, Ukraine’s Maksym Pylypets was unable to box against him in the final day.

Netherlands’ best male boxer Minsk 2019 European Games bronze medallist Enrico La Cruz suffered an unexpected loss in the semi-finals but the Dutch delegation was able to travel back with one gold medal from Pancevo. Their Max Van der Pas is member of the national team since 2011 as La Cruz and proved his best yearly performance just in the Golden Gloves Tournament. The 26-year-old Dutch was too strong for Moldova’s Valeri Sirbu in the final of Group A and won the title of the event. The Group B of the division was won by Moldova’s second hope Andrei Vreme following his success over Serbia’s Dejan Dasic.

Italy’s Minsk 2019 European Games bronze medallist Simone Fiori returned to the light heavyweight (81kg) and the 30-year-old veteran used his best tempo to beat Netherlands’ Artjom Kasparian in the final of Group A. The gold medal f the Group B was earned by Bulgaria’s former Youth Olympic Games winner and AIBA Youth World Champion Blagoy Naydenov who returned to the international events in top shape. The Bulgarian boxer controlled his final against Netherlands’ Rick De Nooijer and took his nation’s lone gold medal in Pancevo.